The “freedom” celebration in this 250 event ignored key people: First, Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers

Thomas Jefferson: The author of the Declaration of Independence

The history of what became the United States of America should be written by historians, not politicians. If historians were to be honoring those who were key in drafting the Declaration of Independence, which is what July 4 actually celebrates, they would not be thinking primarily of Ferris Wheels or reflecting pools or a series of un-historical freedom trucks.

Instead, they would be encouraging Americans to read about those who placed their names on the document and the men who wrote and conceived of the words on that vital paper.

The people who are ignored in this alleged historical celebration are key to the freedom of our country. First, the Founding Fathers. The reality is that George Washington, the only hero of the un-historicans in this case, is the only one who is recognized by the faux history, and most important, he had no role in the writing or issuing of the Declaration of Independence.

The verbiage of the Declaration

The words at the outset of this document are vintage Jefferson. He was selected because of his ability to create words that flow and capture the senses, but also present a philosophy that those who planned the overthrow of the monarch would clearly understand.

The key role of Thomas Jefferson was presented in the 1940s by an American historian who had studied the Declaration of Independence very thoroughly,

The purpose of the Declaration is set forth in the first paragraph — a striking sentence, in which simplicity of statement is somehow combined with an urbane solemnity of manner in such a way as to give that felicitous, haunting cadence which is the peculiar quality of Jefferson’s best writing.

“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station, to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them a decent respect to the Opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Carl Lotus Becker, “The Declaration of Independence …” 1922

The historian talks about Jefferson’s “felicitous, haunting cadence” which is why he was selected for the task. After writing his first draft, he sat down with fellow founders Benjamin Franklin and John Adams and two others to edit that work.

However, the truth is that this document was later used in the French Revolution because of the philosophy behind the document, which was pure Jeffersonian,

We hold these truths to be self-evident, That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Carl Lotus Becker, “The Declaration of Independence …”

The part about of the "unalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" have lived on for 250 years and were key to the French a few years later when Jefferson was ambassador for Washington. They are at the root of our freedom, yet in this alleged celebration, Thomas Jefferson is not even mentioned.

In that section, he asserts that people have a right to overthrow a government via a revolution, and that is exactly what the colonists did in the revolution. However, the document is much longer, and in it, the Continental Congress managed to cut some of Jefferson’s language, believing that it was too tough on the monarch — which is ironical.

To read of Becker’s analysis, go to https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/becker-the-declaration-of-independence-a-study-on-the-history-of-political-ideas

Jefferson was an enigmatic character, a man of superb intellect and communication skills who did not always practice the philosophies that he espoused. He opposed slavery yet owned slaves himself and father six children with a mulatto slave, Sally Hemings.

Nevertheless, to ignore the author of Freedom in this celebration is ludicrous, which is very unfortunate.